Numerical simulation of projectile impact on mild steel armour plates using LS-DYNA: Part I: Validation

The paper describes the simulation of impact of jacketed projectiles on steel armour plates using explicit finite element analysis as implemented in LS-DYNA. Validation of numerical modelling includes a comprehensive mesh convergence study leading to insights not previously reported in literature, using shell, solid, and axisymmetric elements for representing target plates. It is shown for a number of cases that with a proper choice of contact algorithm, element size, and strain rate-dependent material properties, computed projectile residual velocities can match closely with corresponding test-based values. The modelling requirements are arrived at by correlating against published test residual velocities' for variants of mild steel plates (designated as MS 1, MS2 and MS3) of different thicknesses at impact velocities in the range of similar to 820-870 m/s. Using the validated numerical procedure, a number of parametric studies such as the effect of projectile shape and geometric aspect ratios as well as plate thickness on residual velocity have been carried out and presented in Part II of the current paper